Roller curtain

Abstract

A roller curtain for use as an area divider, self-storing partition, building closure or the like employs an elongate cylindrical roller which is adapted for rotation to wind and unwind a flexible curtain. The elongate cylindrical roller is suspended from an overhead support by means which support the roller over substantially its entire length to prevent sagging. One means for supporting the roller includes a plurality of first rollers disposed end to end beneath and on one side of the vertical centerline of the roller and a plurality of second rollers disposed end to end beneath and on the opposite side of the elongate roller. The first and second rollers are rotatably supported at their ends by frames which are also attached to the overhead support. Another embodiment of means for supporting the elongate roller provides that the elongate roller be cradled in an endless web which is supported by at least two rollers or series of rollers disposed on each side of the elongate roller.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a roller curtain for dividing or closing off an area, and is more particularly concerned with large roller curtains in which the curtain material rolls smoothly on an elongate roller and which includes means for supporting the elongate roller so as to prevent sagging thereof and prevent uneven winding of the curtain material.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is well known in the case of gymnasiums, auditoriums and other large rooms to provide an area divider or movable partition in the form of a flexible curtain. One type of divider employs the well known Roman shade techniques wherein a curtain is suspended from the ceiling or other overhead support and a plurality of drawstrands are attached at points spaced along the bottom of the curtain and guided by a plurality of respective guides. When this type of curtain is raised to a storage position, it has certain drawbacks including: a tendency to sag at the outermost portions of the fabric; a tendency for the accordian folds to fold incorrectly, thus giving an uneven appearance; and the requirement of a large stacking height for the depending structure which becomes most evident and disadvantageous where a low overhead is involved. When this type of curtain is lowered to form a partition, any uneven folding or sagging of the material encountered in raising the curtain causes unsightly fold lines and wrinkles in the fabric.

A second type of flexible partition involves the utilization of a drum or roller at the lower end of a suspended curtain. A plurality of raising and lowering strands extend downwardly about the material and embrance the roller such that decreasing or increasing the vertical extent of the strands causes the roller to wind or unwind the curtain material. While the stacking height for an equivalent curtain height is not as great as with the Roman shade, the wrinkles produced by supporting the fabric wound roller by the strands is undesirable. Furthermore, as in the case of the Roman shade, the strands themselves detract from the appearance of the partition.

Another type of flexible partition or closure is, of course, the common window shade; however, techniques employed in conventional window shades cannot suffice for the heavy loads encountered in dividers, partitions and closures which may extend from approximately 10-30 feet in height and from a few feet to several tens of feet in length.

Another type of apparatus which is employed for building closures is quite similar to the aforementioned curtain which rolls from the bottom and travels upwardly to a storage position. This type of closure is exemplified in Kuss U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,398,779, 3,464,480 and 3,521,693, and in Youngs U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,211,211, 3,306,344 and 3,306,345. The apparatus disclosed by Kuss and Youngs eliminate the unsightly strands along the face of the curtain; however, in each instance the apparatus requires guide rails on each side of the curtain at the door casings and/or a combination of guide rails and traveling motor mechanisms to effect vertical travel for winding and unwinding of the curtain about the roller. This apparatus is always visible, even when the fabric is in the rolled up or storage position. While the visibility of the guide rails and the like is not particularly objectionable when the apparatus is employed as a building closure, such as an aircraft hanger door, it is highly objectionable, in fact intolerable, and prevents the use of such a roll-up type curtain as a partition or area divider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a new and improved roller curtain for use as a partition, area divider or closure in which the above mentioned drawbacks are eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roller curtain whose construction is adaptable to provide a flexible wall which extends large distances as may be encountered in dividing large areas such as arenas, field houses, gymnasiums or the like, and whose stacking height is held at a minimum which is primarily determined by the length and thickness of the material being wound translated into the layering of the material on an overhead roller. The weight of the material is only of secondary importance with respect to the stacking height, which is the distance the apparatus depends from an overhead support.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roller curtain in which the take-up roller is supported from below over its entire length and is free to move vertically with respect to its support so that the material wound thereon, particularly at material seams, is not subjected to forces other than its own weight and the weight of the take-up roller in order to prevent the formation of wrinkles.

Another object of the invention, and one of primary importance to the user and one which is attendant to all other of my objectives, is to provide a roller curtain that is pleasing and attractive when in use and reasonably compact in its mounting and storage aspects.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized by a roller curtain which depends from the ceiling or other overhead support such as roof trusses, door casings, specially constructured overhead supports for adapting the curtain to the environment, or the like. Herein the overhead support is meant to include any such type of overhead structure and the term "floor" is generally intended to means the floor of a building, a sill, other like surface to which the free end of the curtain would be lowered.

More specifically, a curtain has one end thereof attached to an elongate cylindrical roller which is adapted for rotation to wind and unwind the curtain. The elongate roller and the curtain carried thereby are supported on the underneath side of the roller over the entire length of the roller in order to prevent sagging of the roller and the formation of wrinkles which would be caused by uneven winding of the curtain material. In one embodiment of the invention a plurality of support rollers are located beneath and on either side of the vertical centerline of the take-up roller, with the rollers on each side disposed in an end-to-end relation and supported at their ends by intermediate support frames which attach to the overhead support. The use of a plurality of support rollers on each side of the take-up roller in the end-to-end supported relation prevents sagging which would occur if a single such roller were employed on each side of the take-up roller. In another embodiment of the invention similar support rollers carry an endless web which cradles and supports the take-up roller. In the particular embodiment illustrated hereinbelow, a third roller is employed to separate the portion of the traveling web which is supporting the take-up roller from the portion of the web therebelow which is traveling in the opposite direction. This particular configuration envisions the web almost entirely below the take-up roller. Another roller-web configuration would utilize a pair of rollers above the horizontal centerline of the take up roller and slightly outboard of the take up roller to increase the amount of web which cradles the roller. Additional rollers would be employed to separate the opposite moving portions of the web below the take up roller.

The take up roller is provided with end bearings which are vertically movable in respective bearing guide frames so that the take up roller moves up and down in accordance with the change of effective diameter thereof caused by the changing layers of curtain material as the curtain is wound and unwound. This structure thereby limits the compressive forces applied to the wound fabric to the weight of the fabric and take up roller as a means of preventing wrinkles, particularly at the vertical seams where panels of curtain material are joined. Another technique employed for eliminating wrinkles which tend to occur at seams is, not as would be thought to reduce the number of seams, but to increase the number of seams because the load is carried at very concentrated positions at the seams. Another technique for eliminating wrinkles at seams is to employ welded seams of a two-ply character and to provide a seam width that is as wide as possible. Heretofore seam widths have been limited to approximately five-eighths of an inch due to the inability of the available seam forming apparatus to make seams of greater widths. I have been successful in providing a substantially wider seam of at least one inch. While the concept of reducing forces by increasing the area over which the force is applied is not new, I feel that it is worth mentioning in connection with my teaching concerning the elimination of wrinkles since the provision of such wider seams is not known and aids in enhancing the appearance of the curtain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention, its organization, construction and operation will be best understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, on which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a roller curtain constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention shown with the curtain material extended between an overhead support and a floor;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the roller curtain apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the driven end of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of an intermediate frame and support structure for the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view similar to FIG. 4 of another embodiment of the invention which employs an endless web for supporting the take up roller; and,

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the invention which also employs an endless web for supporting the take up roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a roller curtain is generally reference 10 and comprises a curtain 11 constructed of a plurality of panels of curtain fabric or material which are joined at a number of seams 11' in accordance with the techniques discussed above. The curtain 11 has one end thereof looped about and attached to an elongate cylindrical roller 12. The other end of the curtain 11 is formed in a pocket, loop or the like 13 and houses a weight 14, which stabilizes the curtain 11 with respect to air currents, etc. The curtain 11 may be provided in an area 15 with a myriad of openings 16 as air passageways between the areas divided by the curtain. The provision for air flow is important for the comfort of those in divided areas which do not have a distributed ventilation system for heating, air conditioning, etc.

A frame 17 is located at one end of the roller 12 and generally comprises an upper member 18 for attachment to the overhead support S, a lower member 19 for supporting the roller 12 as will be discussed below, and a connecting member 20 connecting the members 18, 19. A member 21 is connected to and extends from the member 20 for attachment of the lower ends of a pair of guide rails 22, 23 which have their upper ends attached to the member 18. The roller 12 is provided with an end bearing 24 for receiving the roller shaft end 25 therein for rotation. The bearing 24 is carried in a bearing housing 26 which includes a pair of U-shaped guides 27, 28 which embrace respective ones of the guide rails 22, 23. As can be seen in FIG. 2 the elongate cylindrical roller is carried on a pair of rollers 50, 52 which are at fixed positions; therefore, as the curtain 11 is wound onto the roller 12 and increases the effective diameter thereof the roller 12 is permitted to move upwardly with the bearing housing guided by the guide rails 22, 23. As the curtain 11 is lowered and unwound from the roller 12 experiences a decrease in its effective diameter and is permitted to move downwardly by means of its vertically movable bearing structure.

A similar action occurs at the driven end of the roller as can be seen in FIG. 3 wherein a frame 29 is provided which includes an upper member 30 for attachment to the overhead support S, a lower member 31 for aiding and supporting the roller 12 and a connecting member 32 connected between the members 30, 31. A member 33 is attached to and extends from the connecting member 32 and is attached to the lower ends of a pair of guide rails 34, 35 which have their upper ends attached to the upper member 30. This frame structure may also include a pair of members 45, 46 which are attached to and depend from the upper member 30 and which are attached to and carry a plate 47 for mounting a drive mechanism 44. The particular type of drive mechanism and its mounting is not of importance since the roller curtain may be adapted to be driven by many suitable means.

A roller shaft end 36 is mounted in a bearing 37 for rotation. The bearing 37 is carried in a bearing housing 38 which includes a pair of U-shaped guides 39, 40 which embrace respective ones of the guide rails 34, 35. The movement of the roller vertically in response to winding and unwinding of the material occurs at the drivein in the same manner as in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. This freedom of vertical movement permits the roller 12 to remain level at all times and accommodated even winding of the curtain 11.

The shaft end 36 carries a sprocket 41 which with a sprocket 43 of the motor 44 is entrained by a drive chain 42. An additional sprocket 48 is rotatably mounted on the depending member 45 and serves to prevent disadvantageous loops in the chain 42 when the apparatus is shifted from one driving direction to the other. The provision of the chain drive and the attendant forces does not prevent the driven end of the roller from travelling vertically along the guide rails 34, 35 in that the chain has sufficient slack to accommodate the necessary amount of vertical travel which is normally in the area of, for example, 1/4 inch-1/2 inch.

In FIGS. 2 and 3 the lower members 19 and 31 carry support stands 51, 53 which in turn carry respective support rollers 50, 52. These rollers as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, support the elongate cylindrical roller 12 on the underneath side thereof and at points on opposite sides of a vertical line through the axis of rotation of the roller 12. These rollers are actually a series of elongate rollers disposed in an end to end relation on each side of the roller 12 as can be seen in FIG. 1 and supported at the intermediate end to end junctions by intermediate support frames 54 as illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 an intermediate support 54 is shown as comprising an upper member 55, a lower member 56 and a connecting member 57 which connects the upper and lower members 55, 56. Here again, a pair of rollers 50, 52 are supported by respective support members 51, 53 on the lower member 56 of the intermediate support frame 54.

The roller or series of rollers 49 illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 serve to guide the curtain 11 to the correct position for vertical drop and may be extended to any desired position.

In installations where the curtain is to form a wall of substantial length, for example, 30 feet or so, the elongate cylindrical roller 12 has a tendency to deflect horizontally when the curtain has been rolled thereon to such an extent wherein the effective diameter of the roller with respect to the support rollers has increased whereby the roller is not cradled sufficiently between the rollers 50, 52. This problem could be eliminated somewhat by spacing the roller 50, 52 further apart; however, this would change the horizontal and vertical components of force between the rollers 12, 50, 52 in an undesirable manner. Therefore, means have been provided to prevent transverse deflection of the roller 12 in the form of a spring loaded roller device 58 carried by at least the central ones of the intermediate frames 54 (FIG. 4). The device 58 includes a housing 59 secured to the connecting member 57 and housing a spring 60 which urges a member 61 toward the roller 12. The member 61 carries a roller 62 for contacting the roller 12 and urging the same toward the left as viewed in FIG. 4.

Another embodiment of apparatus for supporting the elongate cylindrical roller 12 is illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein a frame 63 includes an upper member (not shown), a lower member 65 and a connecting member 64 much the same as in FIGS. 2-4. A plurality of rollers, here the three rollers 66, 67 and 68, serve to support and separate an endless web 74. The rollers 66-68 are supported by roller supports 69-71 in the same manner as previously described with respect to the rollers 50, 52. The rollers 66 and 68 serve as the primary supports for the web 74 and are positioned such that the elongate roller 12 is cradled in the web 74. The roller 67 serves to separate the opposite traveling portions of the web 74 beneath the roller 12. A roller support 73 and a roller 72 are provided and dimensioned in such a way so that the curtain 11 clears the roller 68 and the web thereabout as the curtain 11 passes from the roller 12 to the point of vertical descent.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a variation in the web and roller construction of FIG. 5. In FIG. 6 a pair of support rollers 66', 68' and a pair of spacing rollers 67' have an endless web 74' entrained thereabout to form a cradle for the elongate cylindrical roller 12. Other configurations of support and separating rollers may, of course, be utilized.

The foregoing as described apparatus which includes vertically travelling bearing means for providing level rolling of the elongate cylindrical roller. This, however, presupposes that the frame structures are initially mounted so that the roller is level. Due to the settling of buildings and changes in loading of overhead supports due to environmental conditions, such as the accumulation of snow on a roof, the roller may not stay level after the initial installation. Therefore, means are provided for leveling and maintaining the system level. Various means for accomplishing this purpose are available, such as self-leveling hydraulic anchors which are well known in the art. This is somewhat of an expensive anchoring technique, but rather simple, as in water seekings its own level. Manual adjustments may be provided on each frame for leveling. In FIG. 4 a manual leveling apparatus 75 has been provided wherein a threaded member, which is secured at its upper end to the overhead support, has a locking nut arrangement 77, 78 for raising and lowering the frame. A number of such arrangements or equivalents thereof, may be provided for each of the end frames and intermediate frames.

Although I have described my invention by reference to specific illustrative embodiments, many changes and modifications thereof may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from spirit and scope of the invention. I therefore intend to include within the patent warranted hereon all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of my contribution to the art.

Claims

I claim:

1. Apparatus forming a roll up partition which extends from an overhead support and a floor or the like, comprising:

a pair of spaced apart rotary bearing means for attachment to the overhead support and mounted for vertical movement;

a cylindrical roller having opposite ends journalled for rotation in respective ones of said bearing means;

a curtain for winding about said cylindrical roller and having one end attached to said cylindrical roller and a second end depending therefrom;

means extending the length of and supporting said roller and said curtain; and

drive means connected to said cylindrical roller for rotating said roller wind and unwind said curtain, said bearing means moving vertically in unison together as the moving curtain winds on or off of said cylindrical roller, said means supporting said cylindrical roller comprising an endless web which passes beneath and supports said roller, said web having a width substantially equal to the length of said roller and with the web having a substantial arcuate area engaging the bottom side of the roller.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said means supporting said cylindrical roller further comprises at least three elongate rollers mounted for rotation within the path of travel defined by said web with two of said rollers flanking said cylindrical roller and supporting said web and the third of said three rollers separating the portions of the web which are traveling in relative opposite directions beneath said cylindrical roller.

3. Roller curtain apparatus for use as a wall between an overhead support and a floor or the like, comprising:

first and second frames for mounting to the overhead support in spaced relation;

an elongate cylindrical roller adapted to rotate;

first and second bearing means carried by respective ones of said frames mounting said elongate cylindrical roller for rotation;

a curtain having one end attached to said elongate cylindrical roller whereby rotation of said roller winds or unwinds said curtain, the amount of wound curtain determining the effective diameter of said elongate cylindrical roller;

roller support means carried by said frames supporting said elongate cylindrical roller and curtain over substantially the entire length of said elongate cylindrical roller;

mounting means on each of said frames mounting said bearing means and roller support means for relative vertical movement of one with respect to the other in response to changes in the effective diameter of said elongate cylindrical roller, said roller support means including:

a plurality of first support rollers disposed end to end below and on one side of said elongate cylindrical roller,

a plurality of second support rollers disposed end to end below and on the other side of said elongate cylindrical roller;

and means for connection to the overhead support rotatably mounting said first and second support rollers,

said means rotatably mounting said first and second support rollers comprising:

a plurality of C-shaped frames each including:

a first leg for connection to the overhead support,

a second leg extending beneath said elongate cylindrical roller and rotatably mounting the ends of said first and second support rollers, and

a connecting member connecting said first and second legs.

4. Roller curtain apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said roller support means includes an endless web mounted to travel beneath and support said cylindrical roller.

5. Roller curtain apparatus according to claim 3 comprising curtain guide roller means including a plurality of third rollers disposed end to end between said first and second frames and rotatably mounted at the ends thereof on said first and second frames and on the distal ends of said second legs.

6. Roller curtain apparatus according to claim 3, comprising means carried by at least some of said connecting members for restricting lateral movement of said elongate cylindrical roller which tends to move toward said connecting member as said curtain is wound.